Well then. Clearly I needed a little bit of cheese with the wine in that last post, am I right? Thankfully, it's been two weeks, about a million perspective shifts, a lot of deep breaths, and a ton of patience later. And here we are.
I took some time to feel sad about the lack of racing in 2020. I'm fully aware it's a first world problem, but I'm also aware that during this whole unprecedented time, no one wrote a book at how to get through it. We all have bad times, good times, moments of sadness, moments of insanity, moments of not giving a $hit, and moments of pure, simple, joy in ways we never expected.
Sometimes all in one day.
Over the past few weeks, I've taken a step back and learned to have some patience. Acceptance for not being in control of what lies ahead. Open minded thinking for people that might be viewing this a different way. Stepping back from people that judge the way I am handling my life choices. Understanding for those willing to have a conversation with me about where our viewpoints differ, usually ending where both of us come out better for it. And absolute empathy for myself. This might shock you, but I tend to be a pretty goal oriented person. I don't take any shit. I don't make excuses. And I go for what I want.
But I also get tired. I run out of bandwidth. And now seems as good a time as any to take those deep breaths and say, much like I would to anyone else that's struggling to keep it together, "It's ok. Whatever you are feeling now, it's ok".
It's funny, isn't it, how we have the least amount of patience with ourselves??
I took a little bit of time to just be sad about the whole state of the world. Then, over the past week or so, I have started to pick up the pieces and to reframe my state of mind. There might not be races in 2020. There might not be school until the fall. There might not be big get togethers. But there are certain things we really can have - positives to focus on. The ability to actually spend time with my kids - and to watch them play together and use their imaginations (they are actually getting along. Amazing what a lack of options does!). The ability to connect meaningfully with friends 1:1 in a non "in person" manner. And the ability to set some new goals for 2020 that don't hinge on legit finish lines.
Since it seems my whole "traditional" race season has shifted from 2020 to 2021, it allows me the time to actually do a few things I wouldn't have otherwise. To work on my bike limiters without working on speed at the same time. To be flexible with my training schedule and allow it to serve as a stress relief and not as a hard core goal to "do everything fast". And to "race" in a totally different way.
I've decided to do a few things I've always wanted to do. First of all, run the year. That equals 2020 miles, twelve easy installments of 168.33333333 miles, or for those who like to measure the minutiae (guilty), 38.84615384615385 miles per week. Every year, I've wanted to do this and got sidelined by that whole biking and swimming thing that seems to get in the way of running if I want to actually be a triathlete. I know. WTF?
I've signed up for a few virtual races. I've never done these, but there have been a few lately that I've done or signed up for that have been pretty awesome.
I took part in a 24 hour relay for Rochester Running Company to help keep running going in Rochester. The idea was that every half hour, there was a virtual baton passed on to keep sneakers on the ground at all times. Because I aman idiot adventuresome, I signed up for 2am. What a cool run What a neat experience! Something I never would have done before.
I also signed up for the "Spring Clean" half marathon. This was a great idea by one of our local running stores - they charged $20, which went to pay employees that cannot work on-site right now. They "spring cleaned" their medal and tee shirt inventory and sent out a random medal/tee to every racer. Then they ran the race over a weekend, you submitted your time, and got entered into the results. Pretty cool!
While I didn't come close to breaking my PR of 1:40, this was a pretty great run with lack of "race energy" on tired legs and good enough to net an AG win and 5th overall female (whatever that even means when you can't see your "competition"). Even better, it helped keep our local running scene going!
Next up is a dual challenge - I signed up for a 1000k virtual run across Tennessee. Years ago, while running Mind The Ducks, one of my ultra friends told me all about Vol State, a 500k ultra that 10 hours into a 12 hour race, seemed like a fabulous idea, and we made a pact to do it someday. (Insert reminder here where I am incredibly influenced by terrible ideas. I don't apologize for this for one second, as its enriched my life in more ways than one!)
Vol state is no longer, but the creator of the Barkely Marathons (AKA the best terrible idea ever that I WILL DO one day!), Gary Cantrell (aka "Laz") created the Virtual Run Across Tennessee - you run 1000k in 4 months "across the state". For this race, you get a shirt, medal, virtual tracker to see your little emoji guy run across the state, and the entry fee goes to "Feed Tennessee", a charity that Laz supports passionately. All good stuff. (There's also additional swag if you run back across Tennessee....2000k....but I'm not that crazy. Maybe. Um....well, we will see about that.)
Moving on. The 1000k race runs May 1-August 31, so it seems appropriate to do another challenge starting May 1 - The Dave Goggins challenge. This one is a great quarantine challenge and also works well to train one for an ultra. The goal? 4x4x48, or, a 4 mile run every 4 hours for 48 hours. It's a great test of endurance, f*ck it, and stupidity, all in one! What more could you ask for??
Of course, that fits me to a tee. Some of my buddies have done variations - a mini challenge of 5x6x30 or a 100k total for 5.25x4x48. Whew. I'm going to stick to the original. Ideally, this begins Friday afternoon and I finish my last run Sunday. I plan to document it and share the results early next week, so stay tuned!
Is this nuts? Yep. Virtual insanity? Absolutely. Jamiroquai always hit the nail on the head, and the concept of "Virtual Insanity" seems not only to apply to my "race goals" but to our current world right now...
And now that things are changing for the worse,
See, its a crazy world we're living in
Futures made of virtual insanity now
Always seem to, be governed by this love we have
Is it what I expected of the year? Absolutely not. But somewhere in this whole virtual insanity, I am working to find my grounding. With the love that I have. One step at a time. And as I always seem to do, it starts with one step into my running shoes. Ready, set, GO!
(Note that these ideas are solely my own. My coach thinks I'm absolutely bananas and I have taken this challenge on as my own. He has much better, saner ideas as to what to do with my time, but as always, allows me the head space and freedom to go off in my own direction at my discretion. He rocks).
I took some time to feel sad about the lack of racing in 2020. I'm fully aware it's a first world problem, but I'm also aware that during this whole unprecedented time, no one wrote a book at how to get through it. We all have bad times, good times, moments of sadness, moments of insanity, moments of not giving a $hit, and moments of pure, simple, joy in ways we never expected.
Sometimes all in one day.
Over the past few weeks, I've taken a step back and learned to have some patience. Acceptance for not being in control of what lies ahead. Open minded thinking for people that might be viewing this a different way. Stepping back from people that judge the way I am handling my life choices. Understanding for those willing to have a conversation with me about where our viewpoints differ, usually ending where both of us come out better for it. And absolute empathy for myself. This might shock you, but I tend to be a pretty goal oriented person. I don't take any shit. I don't make excuses. And I go for what I want.
But I also get tired. I run out of bandwidth. And now seems as good a time as any to take those deep breaths and say, much like I would to anyone else that's struggling to keep it together, "It's ok. Whatever you are feeling now, it's ok".
It's funny, isn't it, how we have the least amount of patience with ourselves??
I took a little bit of time to just be sad about the whole state of the world. Then, over the past week or so, I have started to pick up the pieces and to reframe my state of mind. There might not be races in 2020. There might not be school until the fall. There might not be big get togethers. But there are certain things we really can have - positives to focus on. The ability to actually spend time with my kids - and to watch them play together and use their imaginations (they are actually getting along. Amazing what a lack of options does!). The ability to connect meaningfully with friends 1:1 in a non "in person" manner. And the ability to set some new goals for 2020 that don't hinge on legit finish lines.
Since it seems my whole "traditional" race season has shifted from 2020 to 2021, it allows me the time to actually do a few things I wouldn't have otherwise. To work on my bike limiters without working on speed at the same time. To be flexible with my training schedule and allow it to serve as a stress relief and not as a hard core goal to "do everything fast". And to "race" in a totally different way.
I've decided to do a few things I've always wanted to do. First of all, run the year. That equals 2020 miles, twelve easy installments of 168.33333333 miles, or for those who like to measure the minutiae (guilty), 38.84615384615385 miles per week. Every year, I've wanted to do this and got sidelined by that whole biking and swimming thing that seems to get in the way of running if I want to actually be a triathlete. I know. WTF?
I've signed up for a few virtual races. I've never done these, but there have been a few lately that I've done or signed up for that have been pretty awesome.
I took part in a 24 hour relay for Rochester Running Company to help keep running going in Rochester. The idea was that every half hour, there was a virtual baton passed on to keep sneakers on the ground at all times. Because I am
I also signed up for the "Spring Clean" half marathon. This was a great idea by one of our local running stores - they charged $20, which went to pay employees that cannot work on-site right now. They "spring cleaned" their medal and tee shirt inventory and sent out a random medal/tee to every racer. Then they ran the race over a weekend, you submitted your time, and got entered into the results. Pretty cool!
 |
| My Swag! |
While I didn't come close to breaking my PR of 1:40, this was a pretty great run with lack of "race energy" on tired legs and good enough to net an AG win and 5th overall female (whatever that even means when you can't see your "competition"). Even better, it helped keep our local running scene going!
Next up is a dual challenge - I signed up for a 1000k virtual run across Tennessee. Years ago, while running Mind The Ducks, one of my ultra friends told me all about Vol State, a 500k ultra that 10 hours into a 12 hour race, seemed like a fabulous idea, and we made a pact to do it someday. (Insert reminder here where I am incredibly influenced by terrible ideas. I don't apologize for this for one second, as its enriched my life in more ways than one!)
Vol state is no longer, but the creator of the Barkely Marathons (AKA the best terrible idea ever that I WILL DO one day!), Gary Cantrell (aka "Laz") created the Virtual Run Across Tennessee - you run 1000k in 4 months "across the state". For this race, you get a shirt, medal, virtual tracker to see your little emoji guy run across the state, and the entry fee goes to "Feed Tennessee", a charity that Laz supports passionately. All good stuff. (There's also additional swag if you run back across Tennessee....2000k....but I'm not that crazy. Maybe. Um....well, we will see about that.)
Moving on. The 1000k race runs May 1-August 31, so it seems appropriate to do another challenge starting May 1 - The Dave Goggins challenge. This one is a great quarantine challenge and also works well to train one for an ultra. The goal? 4x4x48, or, a 4 mile run every 4 hours for 48 hours. It's a great test of endurance, f*ck it, and stupidity, all in one! What more could you ask for??
Of course, that fits me to a tee. Some of my buddies have done variations - a mini challenge of 5x6x30 or a 100k total for 5.25x4x48. Whew. I'm going to stick to the original. Ideally, this begins Friday afternoon and I finish my last run Sunday. I plan to document it and share the results early next week, so stay tuned!
Is this nuts? Yep. Virtual insanity? Absolutely. Jamiroquai always hit the nail on the head, and the concept of "Virtual Insanity" seems not only to apply to my "race goals" but to our current world right now...
And now that things are changing for the worse,
See, its a crazy world we're living in
Futures made of virtual insanity now
Always seem to, be governed by this love we have
(Note that these ideas are solely my own. My coach thinks I'm absolutely bananas and I have taken this challenge on as my own. He has much better, saner ideas as to what to do with my time, but as always, allows me the head space and freedom to go off in my own direction at my discretion. He rocks).
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